Baggage-car floor.



No. 656,448. I Paten ted Aug. 2|-, |900.,

T. EUBANK.

BAGGAGE GAR FLOOR.

(Application med May 14, 1906' (No Model.)

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Kw j w m 1 4s Am a TED, STATES PATENT TI-IOMAS EUBANK, or sr. LOUIS,MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN I CAR AND FOUNDRY COMPANY, or SAMEPLACE.

BAGGAGE-CARFLOOR. I

srncIFIoA'rIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 656,448, dated August21, 1900.

Application filed May 14, 1900.

of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Baggage-Gar Floors, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description, such as I will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference'being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which-- I Figu re 1 is a longitudinal verticalsectional view through my improved car-floor. Fig. 2 is a top plan .viewof a portion of said floor. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view on line 33, Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is a cross-sectional view on line 4 4, Fig. 1. r Fig.5 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of a modified form of myimproved floor; and Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional View on line 6 6, Fig.5.

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in car-floorsdesigned especially for use in connection with baggage or express carswhere mixed freight is handled, packages being frequently shippedcontaining ice. to preserve the contents of said packages.

It is the object of this invention to provide a solid subfloor, overwhich is arranged Sheet metal, said subfloor of sheet metal beinginclined to carry the water to suit-able troughs, from which leaddown-spouts. The top floor is preferably in the form of slats arrangedparallel with the direction of inclination of the subfloor and itsmetallic covering.

With this object in view the invention consists in the construction,arrangement, and combination of the several parts, all as willhereinafter be described and afterward pointed out in the claims. I

In the drawings, A indicates the sills of a car-frame, upon which arearranged wedgeshaped shims B, said shims being preferably the width ofthe sills, except upon the side sills, where they are reduced in widthto accommodate the usual posts carried by said side Sills. These shims,as shown in Fig, l, are arranged back to back and point to point, and asuitable tongue-and-grooved flooring O is nailed or otherwise secured.on top of the shims.

D indicates sheet metal which is arranged Serial No. 16,608. (No model.)

on top of the inclined fiooringO, said metal being formed with troughs dat the lowest point of the flooring or where said flooring most nearlyapproaches the sills, a board or boards being omitted in'the flooring toprovide a space for these troughs. At the end of the car a metalliccovering is bent up, as at (1, said upwardly-extending flangescontinuing around the side walls, as at (P. (See Fig. 3.)

E indicates a slatted upper floor correspond ing in shape to the shimsB, except that they are narrower, said slats being arranged on themetallic coveringD and disposed longitudinally, a small space being leftbetweenthem.

The upper faces of the slats are arranged sub 1 stantially on ahorizontal plane, and in length they coincide with the length of thein'clination of the inclined portions of the flooring O.

This improved floor is preferably arranged at the ends of the baggage orexpress car, the middle portion thereof being formed of planks arrangedas shown in Figs. 1 and 4that is, there is the usual ship-lap subfioorF, whose boards are arranged transversely the car, whilethe top flooringG preferably consists of tongue-and-grooved material arrangedlongitudinally the car. It will of course be understoodthat theinclination of the watershedding portions of the floor shown in Fig. lare greatly exaggerated, the length of the car being considerablyshortened for the pur pose of illustration. 7 In actual practice theinclined portions form panels about eight feet in length, having a pitchof about one-quarter of an inch to thefoot. The sheet-metal covering Dis of sufficient thickness to stand the wear to which it is subjected,and the slats are about two inches wide, with an inch of space between.

' It will be obvious from the above description that any water drippingfrom freight carried will be conducted down'into the troughs d, whencethe water will escape through the down-spouts d. The subflooring andframework of the car are absolutely protected from moisture, and alonger life to the structure is thus insured.

Heretofore the fish-floors, as these slatted structures are Sometimescalled, have been used in baggage-cars; but no effective means have beenprovided for protecting the substructure from absorbing moisture androtting. Furthermore, where wood is exposed to drippings fromfish-barrels unless it can be flushed out and cleansed the stencharising is not only disagreeable, but frequently unhealthy to thosewhose occupations necessitate their presence in the car. In thestructures now in use the slats are in the form of frames and elevatedabove the floor of the car, a cleat being secured to the floor to holdthe slatted frames in place. It is. therefore necessary in handlingfreight to lift it over this cleat to reach the slatted frame. In mypresent construction it will be noticed that the slatted portions of thefloor are on a level with the solid floor.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown a construction wherein the floor boards ordecking are arranged directly upon the sills, as is usually employed inordinary car construction, and upon this floor I arrange the shims b,placing said shims close together to form a solid foundation for thesheet-metal covering D, as shown in Fig. 6. The slats E are employed asbefore described. By employing the arrangement shown in Figs. 5 and 6 itis possible to use my improved flooring in old cars provided with theusual flooring.

I am aware that minor changes in the arrangement, construction, andcombination of the several parts of my device can be made andsubstituted for those herein shown and described without in the leastdeparting from the. nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with an inclined subfloor, of a sheet-metal coveringtherefor, and slats arranged on said sheet-metal covering, said slatsbeing wedge-shaped and disposed longitudinally the incline, wherebytheir up-- per edges present substantially a horizontal tread;substantially as described.

2. The combination with an inclined subfloor, of a sheetmetal coveringtherefor provided with troughs at the bases of the inclinations, andslats arranged on said covering;

with troughs, said covering being'bent up at the end and side walls ofthe ear,- wedgeshaped slats arranged on said covering, and down-spoutsleading from said troughs; substantially as described.

5. In a car, the combination with the dou ble flooring F G arranged inthe middle portion of the car, of inclined floor-panels arranged at theends of the car, a sheet-metal covering for said inclined panels, andslats arranged on said inclined panels; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature, in the presence oftwo witnesses, this 12th day of May, 1900.

THOMAS EUBANK. WVitnesses:

H. Scorr, F. R. CORNWALL.

